August 22nd SBC Evening Event – Featured Research Activities and Results
Thank you to those who joined Sustainable Buildings Canada for an evening session at Toronto’s beautiful Spoke Club on August 22nd. The evening featured presentations from these expert speakers:
Mike Williams, RWDI – Measuring up to Global Warming & Greg Allen, Rivercourt Engineering – Net Zero Energy vs. Zero Emissions Buildings
Net Zero Energy buildings do not result in zero GHG emissions and zero emissions buildings do not necessarily result in net zero energy. The important objective is to mitigate Climate Change, not save energy. We can’t design zero emissions buildings if we don’t know how to measure GHG impact. The right design solutions will cost less. Whereas net zero energy buildings typically require sufficient PV capacity to equal the annual energy demand, zero emissions buildings rely more on strategies that shift electricity load to periods when sufficient renewable generation is available from the grid.
Bettina Hoar, Sage Living – Building for Human Health & Wellbeing
As our building code drives us to ever more efficient buildings, builders and developers are hoping to find ways of differentiating their product beyond energy efficiency. Health and wellness is the next trillion dollar industry and in this talk, we explore how the concept of building for health is rapidly emerging and worth considering. This talk will use the framework of how building certifications are incorporating human health in order to give an overview of some of the ways buildings can benefit human health and well being.
Dave Petersen, Outside in Design + Build & Miyoko Oikawa, SBC– Residential High Performance Construction & Design Strategies
This presentation will provide guidance for builders and designers of residential (Part 9) buildings on construction and design strategies aligning with high performance envelopes (30-50% better than 2012 OBC SB12). The research focuses on how to align current construction practices and costs with opportunities to build a better insulated, more durable envelope system utilizing outboard insulation strategies.